In this Radical Responsibility episode, I chat with Dr. Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, educator, and author who specializes in understanding the mind-body connection. She is well known for her best-sellers The Willpower Instinct and The Upside of Stress. Her latest book, The Joy of Movement, explores why physical exercise is a powerful antidote to the modern epidemics of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Today we chat about the science behind willpower and how aligning our values and relationships with our goals can change our lives more sustainably.

We also chat about:
-The biggest barriers to making positive change in your life
-How to put your wiser self in charge of as many choices as possible
-How to make choices that are consistent with your values and your goals
-Breaking free of behaviors you really struggle with
-Giving your energy to what matters most

To learn more about Kelly McGonigal you can visit http://kellymcgonigal.com/

Today in my Radical Responsibility podcast, I chat with Dr. Richard Davidson a professor of psychology and psychiatry, founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds, neuroscientist, and author. He is best known for his groundbreaking work studying emotion and the brain and is also a leading, international speaker for conversations on well-being including the World Economic Forum.

In this conversation, Dr. Richard Davidson speaks about how we can re-train our brains so that we don't become slaves to rumination and worry and therefore become more resilient.

We also talk about:
-How our relationship with the default mode network within the brain impacts our resilience.
-brain research of long-time meditators vs beginner/non-meditators and their response to pain, and the fascinating insights it offers about neurological resilience.
-The advantages of short periods of meditation

To learn more about Dr. Davidson you can visit https://www.richardjdavidson.com/

In this Radical Responsibility podcast, I chat with Dr. Laurie Leitch, clinical trainer, psychotherapist, researcher, organizational consultant, and creator of the Social Resilience Model. She is also a social entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Threshold GlobalWorks (TGW) and the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI). She also has extensive experience with collective capacity resilience building in diverse and cross-cultural settings. In today's episode, she shares insight on how learning to direct our attention can deepen our resilience and boost our immune functioning. She also offers insights on why Health Literacy is so crucial in a time of crisis.


We also chat about:

-How Appropriate Technology can empower people to become more resilient and independent
-The five skills of her "Social Resilience Model" and how they can collectively help us grow and be more resilient in the hard times.
-A pithy Zen parable that can serve as a touchstone when dealing with overwhelming challenges


To learn more about Dr. Laurie Leitch you can visit https://www.thresholdglobalworks.com/about/co-founders/

In this RR podcast, I chat with Dr. Pat Ogden, psychotherapist, renowned innovator in somatic psychology and leading expert in working with the body to resolve trauma. She is well-known for developing Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, a body-oriented approach to help patients process traumatic memories and manage their threat responses. We talk about the importance of our body's experiences in dealing with trauma, and what we can do to calm an activated nervous system.

We also discuss:
-The role of posture and touch in dealing with trauma
-Why you shouldn't feel pressured to perform or excel during disruption and traumatic times.
-how watching the news at night can interfere with the basic functions of eating, and sleeping and how re-triggering our trauma can further dysregulated self.
-How sensory “diets” can help minimize vicarious trauma

For more information on Dr. Ogden, please visit https://sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/

In this podcast, I speak to Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a Lakota peacemaker and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He is well known as the founder, host, and executive producer of his well-established indigenous voices radio show “First Voices Radio ”. With his vast indigenous wisdom, he shares with me how this pandemic is actually a moment of enlightenment offered to us by the Earth.

He also shares his wisdom with me on:

-How the subjectivity of Western language limits our ability to gain a richer understanding of how to engage with the Earth.
-Why a solution-focused mindset might not be the way in which to regain our balance with our planet
How a subtle shift in perspective can remove the dualism, dominance & ideology that creates our exploitative relationship with the Earth


For more information on Tiokasin Ghosthorse, please visit https://firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/

Today in this Radical Responsibility podcast I speak to Tami Simon, the founder of Sounds True. At age 22 (over 30 years ago) Tami started a small publishing business with the intention to disseminate spiritual wisdom. Now, as North America’s leading publisher of spoken-word spiritual teachings, Sounds True has twice been nominated as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States on the Inc. 500 list. I chat with Tami about understanding the challenges of maintaining a resourceful and resilient business and how to become more adaptive to change. We discuss her personal approach to business, which values truthfulness, vulnerability, and authenticity.

On this Radical Responsibility episode, I chat with Dr. David Treleaven, writer, educator, and trauma professional working at the intersection of mindfulness and trauma. David is also very well known for his best-selling book "Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness" and has worked closely with leading universities and institutions to offer Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness. We discuss the four components of his mindfulness model and how we can grow through adversity while simultaneously healing our trauma.

In this first episode of a three-part series, I chat with one of our most popular guests on resilience, Dr. Rick Hanson. As a neuropsychologist and author of 6 books on the topic, Rick is the authority on self-directed neuroplasticity. Given his vast knowledge, he is incredibly humble and grounded in how he shares insight into the three neuroscientific features of a resilient brain, and how resilience promotes well-being and allows us to thrive in challenging times.

We also chat about:

-How to turn positive states of resilience into lasting traits.
-The different levels of resilience & how we can engage with them.
-Three tools for these challenging times…and a five-minute challenge that can change your life.

To learn more about Dr. Rick Hanson, please visit https://www.rickhanson.net/

In this week's Radical Responsibility podcast, I chat with Rhonda Magee, a well-revered Professor of Law, Mindfulness Teacher, and Author of her award-winning book "The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness". Rhonda has also been recognized internationally as an innovator, storyteller thought & practice leader in integrating mindfulness into higher education, law, and social justice for 20 years. Today we chat about how important it is to recognize our shared human vulnerability during the pandemic and how this translates to the ongoing challenges around social and racial justice. She believes that more intentionality will lead to new ways of human connection and social justice.

We also discuss:
-The search for evidence over rhetoric, to enhance the functioning of our social and political institutions.
-The importance of a strong ethical culture beneath our economic and political structures.
-The role mindfulness plays in helping us attend to the suffering more consciously

For more information on Rhonda Magee JD, please visit www.rhondamagee.com.

In this Radical Responsibility podcast, I interview Dr. Dan Siegel, Founder of the Mindsight Institute, a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. Also, as the author of 13 books (4 bestsellers), we discuss his vast insight on how to integrate our minds for better well-being and resilience through love, interconnection, and presence.

We also chat about:

-How his three-pillar mindfulness practice training can help us become more resilient.
-Integrating the threat-seeking part of our brain to improve wellbeing and resilience.
-Why our sense of purpose is essential to our resilience.


For more on Dr. Dan Siegel, you can visit his website www.DrDanSiegel.com and www.mindsightinstitute.com